Hindustan Times ·
Traffic police order inspection of signals after pole collapse injures two
A day after a 13-year-old boy and a 50-year-old man were injured when a traffic signal pole fell on them near Connaught Place, the Delhi traffic police on Wednesday said they had issued a notice to the private agency responsible for maintaining traffic signals across the city
Delhi Police have also registered an FIR against unknown persons for allegedly committing a negligent act endangering human life or personal safety.
The incident took place on Tuesday night when an auto-rickshaw carrying a family and a two-wheeler were struck by the falling pole. Police said both the boy and the 50-year-old man suffered head injuries.
According to police, a call about the incident was received around 9.30pm from the Outer Circle of Connaught Place near Minto Bridge. The injured man, identified as Sunil Singh, 50, was taken to BL Kapoor Hospital, where he is undergoing treatment. His family said on Wednesday that he was stable but declined to comment further.
The boy’s father, who declined to be identified, said the family was visiting Delhi from Ayodhya.
“We belong to Ayodhya and were visiting Delhi. The pole fell on the auto in which we were travelling and pierced its outer cover. My son was left bleeding. Thankfully, people around us helped and took us to the hospital. He’s fine now and has been discharged. We are going to Kalkaji Devi Mandir to take blessings,” he said.
Police said the boy was travelling in the auto with his parents and younger sister, while Singh was riding a two-wheeler.
An FIR has been registered at Connaught Place police station under Section 125(b) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which pertains to rash or negligent acts endangering human life or personal safety, police said.
A senior police officer said investigators were probing how the pole collapsed and had recorded statements of the injured. The FIR was registered on the complaint of auto-rickshaw driver Bhutpal Singh.
“I had picked up a family of four and was taking them to Kake Da Dhaba at night. I was close to the restaurant and had stopped at the red light when the pole fell on us. It all happened within seconds. We had no time to react. The pole was not dangling or anything. It directly fell on us. I tried to save my life but suffered minor bruises on my abdomen and hand. The child was hurt the most…his head was bleeding. We rushed him to the hospital. The family was very frightened,” he told HT.
The Delhi traffic police said on Wednesday that they had taken cognisance of the incident and would take action based on the findings of the probe.
Traffic signals in Delhi are installed and maintained by private agencies engaged by the traffic police.
Ajay Chaudhary, special commissioner of police (Traffic), said, “We have issued notice to the maintenance agency/company. After a probe, the agency shall be held accountable for the incident. It’s a one-off incident and we will take strict action against those culpable. Prima facie, it appears that the pole was rusted, causing it to collapse. We have also constituted a team who will now inspect all traffic signals across Delhi so that such an incident does not happen again. All traffic lights will be inspected and we will check when they have to be replaced…”
- Jignasa Sinha is a Special Correspondent at Hindustan Times in New Delhi. With more than six years of reporting experience, she covers crime and policing in the national capital. Her beats also include Delhi prisons, the Delhi Fire Services and Delhi courts, while she regularly reports on gender, labour and social justice. Over the course of her career, Jignasa has reported on major criminal investigations, international crime syndicates, high-profile cyber fraud cases, law-and-order developments, protests, disasters and public institutions. Her reporting combines breaking news with in-depth, long form, human interest stories that examine the human impact of public policy, policing and the criminal justice system. In addition to reporting for the newspaper, she contributes to the Hindustan Times website and app, and plays an active role in coordinating on-ground coverage of major developments and breaking news across Delhi. Before joining Hindustan Times, Jignasa worked at The Indian Express newspaper in New Delhi, where she spent five years covering crime, Delhi airport, courts and health. She began her journalism career as an intern at an AI magazine in Bengaluru while pursuing her postgraduate diploma in multimedia journalism at the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media.Read More